EIT Urban Mobility dubbed most active investor in European mobility start-ups in 2023
With 62 investment rounds in 2023, EIT Urban Mobility is the top investor in European mobility start-ups according to the latest report of Via ID and Dealroom.
With one exit, the current investment portfolio contains 127 start-ups and has a total value of EUR 1 billion with companies covering 29 European countries. While these innovations cover all aspects of mobility, they all have one common factor: their positive environmental and social impact on the urban landscape.
Impact investing means looking to the future when making decisions now. This means that we go beyond financial investments to drive meaningful and lasting change in the urban mobility sector. As the European leading impact investor in mobility, EIT Urban Mobility, looks for seeds and pre-seeds companies that already have or can have a net positive impact.
Fredrik Hanell, Director of Impact Ventures at EIT Urban Mobility
Prominently featured sectors in the portfolio include transport electrification, urban logistics, and mobility data management. EIT Urban Mobility goes beyond the more traditional aspects of mobility by also investing in sectors such as waterborne mobility and behavioural change through nudging and stimulating walking.
A portfolio of high-scoring start-ups in sustainable impact
To measure a company’s net impact, and deliver a transparent view across specific categories, EIT Urban Mobility employs the Upright Net Impact Model, a quantification model that is based on a network summarising more than 250 million scientific articles and a taxonomy of over 150 000 product and service categories. According to this model, EIT Urban Mobility’s portfolio scores a 48% positive net impact score, significantly higher than the 40% of the control group of the Upright Benchmark. The start-up companies in the portfolio score especially high on the environmental dimension, +217% compared to benchmark. Another strong selection point is team diversity and gender balance, resulting in 43% of the equity portfolio being women-led in comparison to the industry average of 18% according to the Report on Women Entrepreneurs in Europe.
On top of this sustainable impact, EIT Urban Mobility has a dedicated investment budget for European economies that require more support in the sector of innovation. These regions defined by the Regional Innovation Scheme, typically have enormous untapped potential and can greatly benefit from investments in innovation and mobility. By directing resources to these areas, EIT Urban Mobility contributes to economic growth, job creation, and the development of sustainable transportation systems.
In 2024, EIT Urban Mobility, aims to continue to enlarge the portfolio with an ongoing call for investments and their Investment Readiness Programme. This programme is designed for European start-ups in the field of urban mobility currently fundraising or planning to do so in 2025. EIT Urban Mobility’s investment strategy focuses on creating positive outcomes for both people and the planet while ensuring competitive market returns.
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